Razor blade stropper



Feb. 12, 1935. E, D PERM 1 1,991,257

RAZOR BLADE STROPPER Filed Aug. 3, 1931 FFJ 4 Fi .2.

I NVENTOR E dward D. Petr y BY HIS ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 12, 1935 I 2 1,991,257

, 1,991,257 RAZOR. BLADE STROPPER.

Edward D. Perry, Waterbury, Conn., assignor to The Beardsley & Wolcott Manufacturing Company, Waterbury,.(lonn., a corporation of Connecticut Application August a, 1931, Serial No. 554,639

12 Claims. (01. 51-80) This invention relates to stroppers, and more Fig; 8 is a similar front view of said gears in particularly to a hand-operated device for sitheir depressed position. multaneously stropping both sides of both edges Referring now to the drawing in which like of a double-edged safety razor blade. reference numerals denote corresponding parts One object of this invention is to provide a throughout the several views, the numeral 10 in- .5 handle-operated blade stropper of the above dicates a hollow base which is substantially nature, constructed in substantially cylindrical semi-cylindrical in shape, and has a pair of vershape for facilitating the holding'of the device tical, end walls 11. The end walls 11 are proin the left hand of the operator, while'he rovided with depending large central slots 12 in 10 tates the handle with his righthand. their top edges, and said top edges also have 10 A further object is to provide a device of the slots 13 and 131, which serve to limit the inward above nature provided with a casing, the end swinging of a pair of upper stropper roll shafts walls of which have cam edges, and vertical slots l i'and 15, said shafts 14 and 15 being journaled for guiding the upper stropper rolls into stropin a pair of endplateslG and 17 forming part 15 ping position and limiting the inward moveof a pair of quarter-cylindrical hollow cover 15 ment thereof, to prevent them from being cutby members 18 and 19, respectively, said cover a razor blade. members being loosely joined to said base frame A further object is to provide a stropper of 10, as by a pin and slot connection to bedethe above nature having a much smaller numscribed later.

UNITED STATES, PATENT. OFFICE 20 ber of gears for driving the stropper roll than The upper edges of the end walls 11 are also go I were formerly required in stropping devices of provided with inclined cam sections 20 and 21, this kind. 1 for guiding the movable shafts 14 and -15"into A further object is to provide a device of the the slots 13 and 13a, when the covers 18 and 19 above nature which will be simple in construcare being closed.v The blade 21a will thus be tion, inexpensive to manufacture, which shall prevented from cutting the stropping elements 5 consist of relatively few parts and which will which preferably consist of two pairs of narrow be compact, ornamental in appearance, and leather strips 22 and 22a,"helic al1y woundon highly efiicient and durablein use. the exterior of the two sets of cooperating strop- With these and other objects in view there per rollers 23 and24,-2 5 and 26, carriedby the has been illustrated on the accompanying drawshafts 14, 15, 2'7, 28, respectively. 30 ing one form in. which the invention may'be The helical strips 22 on the. upper rolls" 23 conveniently embodied in practice. and 24 are arranged in staggered relationship In the drawing: with respect to the similar leather strips. 220., Fig. 1 represents a perspectiveend view of the formed on the lower rol1s25, 26, so as toprevent :2; improved stropper embodying the invention. said strips from contacting with each other dur- Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the ing the rotation of said rolls. same. The cover memberstls and" 19 are provided Fig. 3 is a front view of the same, partly with small vertical slots 29 and 30 on their broken away, to show the interior construction. opposite end plates 16 and l'l thereof for loosely Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on receiving the extremities of the stationary shafts 4 the line 44 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction 27 and 28 which are journaled in the end walls of the arrows, and showing the arrangement 11 of said base frame 10. By means of this of the operating gears. construction, it will be seen that the cover Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on members 18 and 19 carrying the movable upper the line 5-5 of Fig. 2,1ooking in the direction stropper rolls 23 and 24 will be looselyand ad- 45 of the arrows, andshowing thecovers in open just bly pivoted with respefiit the w r Staposition, with a razor blade resting upon the tionary rolls 25 and 26. I lower stropping rolls. In order to provide manually-operated means Fig. 6 is a rear end view of the stropper, on for rotating all four ofthe stropper rolls 23, 24,

50 a slightly enlarged scale,*showing in full, lines, 25 and 26 simultaneously against the opposite 50 r the cover sections in'depressed position, the dot sides of the two edges of the razor blade 21a, and dash lines indicating the normal raised poprovision is made of a handle arm 3l'provided sition thereof. at its outer end with an operating knob 32, said Fig. '7 is a front view'of the operating gears handle 31 being provided at its'inner end with "intheir normal condition; a spiral-shaped key slot 33 looselyfitted about 5 a pin 34 projecting from the extremity of the lower stationary shaft 28. The connection between the pin 34 and the key slot 33 is such that the rotation of the handle arm 31 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3 will cause the rollers 23, 24, 25, and 26 to strop the blade 21a. If, however, the handle 31 should be rotated in the opposite direction it will slip with respect to the extension pin 34 and injury to the helical stropper strips 22 and 2211 by the razor blade 21a will thus be prevented.

The power imparted to the driving shaft handle 31 is communicated to the other stropper shafts 14, 15 and 27 by means of three sets of intermeshing gears arranged as follows:-g'ear s 35 and 36 mounted on the upper movable shafts 14 and 15, gears 37 and 38 mounted on the lower stationary stropper shafts 2'7 and 28, and a pair of idle pinions 39 and 40 mounted to rotate on a pair of pins 41 and 42 carried by the front end wall 11 of the base'frame 10.

In order to permit the pressure of the four stropper rolls upon the razor blade 21a to be varied at will during the stropping operation, provision is made of a pair of centrally located vertical plungers43 and 44 having flanges 45 at their lower ends, and adapted to be slidably fitted within a pair of tapped housings 46 and 46a. The housings 46 and 46a are secured to the bottom wall of the base frame 10 by means of a pair of screw plugs 47 and 47a.

The upper adjacent edges of thecovers 18 and 19 are provided with corrugated outer surfaces 48 and 49, adapted to be engaged by the fingers of the operator for depressing said covers with respect to said base frame 10 against the tension of a pair of coiled springs 50 and 51 located within the plunger housings 46 and 46a and pressing upwardly at all times upon the vertical plungers 43 and 44. The plungers 43 and 44 are adapted to be spaced apart the proper distance for receiving the usual end apertures of the razor blade 21a.

Operation In operation, the razorblade 21a will first be dropped over the plungers 43 and 44 into the position shown in Fig. 5. The cover members 18 and 19 willthen be closed, bringing their adjacent edges into contact with the upper ends of said plungers, and the user will grasp the device in his left hand while rotating the crank handle 31 with his right hand. The pressure of the stropper rolls 23, 24, 25 and 26 upon the razor blade 21a may be readily adjusted by varying the pressure with which the upper covers 18 and 19 are squeezed downwardly toward the base frame 10.

One advantage of the present invention lies in the fact that the cylindrical shape of the stropper enables it to conform comfortably to the hand of the user and permits greater accuracy of control of the device than was the case with prior devices.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto, but, may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing fromits spirit. In short, the invention includesall the modifications, and embodiments coming within the scopeof the following claims. 7 v

Having thus fully described the invention,

what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent is:

1. In a stropper for a double edged razor blade, a stationary base, a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled in said base, a pair of cover members loosely pivoted to said base and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in, stropping position in contact with all four of said rolls, resilient means at the center of said blade for pressing said cover members upwardly, said base and cover members having a substantially cylindrical shape to conform comfortably to the users hand, said base having a pair of upstanding end plates, each' of said end plates having a vertical slot for receiving one of said upper stropper rolls for limiting its inward movement and thus preventing cutting of said roll by the razor blade.

2. In a stropper for a double edged razor blade, a stationary base, a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled inv said base, a pair of cover members loosely pivoted to said base and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four of said rolls, resilient means for pressing said cover members upwardly, said base and cover members having a substantially cylindrical shape to conform comfortably to the users hand, said base having a pair of upstanding end plates, each of said end plates having a pair of vertical slots for slidably receiving said upper stropper rolls for limiting their inward movement and thus preventing cutting of said rolls by the razor blade, each end plate having cam means for guiding said upper stropper rolls into said slots.

3. In a stropper for a double edged razor blade, astationary base, a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled in said, base, a pair of cover members loosely pivoted to saidbase and iciarrying a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in stroppirig position in contact with all four of said rolls, resilient means for pressing said cover members upwardly, said baseand cover members having a substantially cylindrical shape to conform comfortably to the users hand, said base having a pair of upstanding end plates, each of said end plates having a vertical slot for receiving one of said upper stropper rolls for limiting its inward movement andth'us preventing cutting .of said roll by the razor blade, each, end platealso having a curved cam edge for guiding said upper stropper roll into said slot. I

"4. In a stropper for a double edged razor blade, a stationary base, a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled in said base, a pair of cover members loosely pivoted to said base and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four of said rolls, resilient means for pressing said cover m'embers'upwardly, said base and cover'rnembers having asubstantially cylindrical shape to conform" comfortably "to the users hand, said basehaving a pairof upstanding end plates, each of said end plates having a pair 'of vertical slots for 'r'ec'eiving'said upper stropper rolls for limiting their inward movement and thus preventingcuttingof said rolls by the razor blade, each end plate also having a pair of curved cam edges for guiding said upper stropper rolls into said slots,

5. In a device for stropping both sides of a double edged razor at the same time, a s'tationary base having "a pair of lower stropper rolls bers pivotally connected journaled therein, a pair of carrier members pivotally connected to said stationary base and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls therein, means for holding said razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four rolls, and cam means for holding said upper rolls upwardly out of stropping position while said carrier members are being swung into operating position, whereby cutting of said upper stropper rolls by said bladewill be prevented.

6. In a device for stropping both sides of a double edged razor blade at the same time, a stationary base having a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled therein, a pair of carrier memto said stationary base and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls therein, means for holding said razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four rolls, and means for holding said upper rolls upwardly out of stropping position while said carrier members are being swung into operating position, whereby cutting of said upper stropper rolls by said blade will be prevented.

'7. In a device for stropping both sides of a double edged razor blade at the same time, a stationary base having a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled therein, a pair of carrier members pivotally connected to said stationary base on the axis of said lower stropper rolls and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls therein, means for holding said razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four rolls, and cam means for holding said upper rolls upwardly out of stropping position while said carrier members are being swung into operating position, whereby cutting of said upper stropper rolls by said blade will be prevented.

8. In a device for stropping both sides of a double edged razor blade at the same time, a stationary base having a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled therein, a pair of carrier members pivotally connected to said stationary base on the axes of said lower stropper rolls and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls therein, means for holding said razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four rolls, each carrier member being connected to both ends of one of said lower stropper rolls, and mechanism 1 including gears mounted on said upper rolls in direct mesh with gears mounted on said lower rolls arranged to rotate said upper and lower rolls simultaneously in opposite directions.

9. In a stropper for a double edged razor blade, a stationary base, a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled in said base, a pair of cover members having a pin and slot connection with said base and each pivoted at both ends on the axes of said lower rolls and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four of said rolls, spring means at the center of said blade for pressing said cover members upwardly, said base and cover members having a substantially cylindrical shape to conform comfortably to the users hand, and manually operated gears mounted on said upper rolls in direct mesh with gears mounted on said lower rolls and arranged to rotate said rolls simultaneously in opposite directions.

10. In a stropper for a double edged razor blade, a stationary base, a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled in said base, a pair of cover meme bers having a pin and slot connection with said base and each pivoted at both ends on the axes of said lower rolls and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four of said rolls, a pair of spring-pressed bladeguiding plungers for guiding said blade and for pressing said cover members upwardly, said base and cover members having a substantially cylindrical shape to conform comfortably to the users hand, each of said rolls carrying a gear on one end, thegear on each upper roll meshing with the gear on the cooperating lower roll, and a pair of idler gears for interconnecting the gears on said lower rolls. l

11. In a stropper for a double edged razor blade, a stationary base, a'pair of lower stropper rolls journaled in said base, a pair of cover members having a pin and slot connection with said base and each pivoted at both ends on the axes of said lower rolls and carrying a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in stropping position in contact with all four of said rolls, spring means at the center of said blade for pressing said cover members upwardly, said base and cover members having a substantially cylindrical shape to conform comfortably to the users hand, said cover members having corrugated adjacent upper surfaces to prevent slippage, and gear mechanism including gears mounted on said upper rolls in direct mesh with gears mounted on said lower rolls to cause said upper rolls to operate simultaneously in the opposite direction from said lower rolls.

12. In a stropper for a double; edged razor blade, a stationary base, a pair of lower stropper rolls journaled in said base, a pair of cover members having a pin and slot connection with said base and eachpivoted at both ends on the axes of said lower rolls and carrying. a pair of movable stropper rolls, means for holding a razor blade in stropping position in contact with all 'four of said rolls, spring means at the center of said blade for pressing said cover members upwardly, said base and cover members having a substantially cylindrical shape to COI1-:

form comfortably to the users hand, said covers having slots to slidably fit over pins extending from said lowerv stropper rolls, and manually operated gears mounted on said upper rolls in direct mesh with gears mounted on said lower rolls and arranged to rotate said rolls simultaneously in opposite directions.

EDWARD D. PERRY; 

